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Traditional New Home Communities - Old Design Is New Again

Nov 3rd 2015 at 4:45 AM

Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) means that a new home community is planned from its inception to be less automobile-dependent and more likely to be a walk-able community and more likely to create friendships among the neighbors. These TND communities, such as Cherry Hill Village in Canton, Michigan and Celebration in Orlando, Florida, celebrate yesteryear through traditional planning and design.

These TND communities accomplish this in several ways.

*The communities mix single family homes with multiple dwellings and small commercial enterprises.

*Homes are much closer to the sidewalks than in other subdivisions. Garages often enter from rear alleys, making streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

*All neighborhoods have sidewalks that provide a route to take homeowners out of the residential streets and to the shops, parks and churches in the TND.

*Front porches are bigger and modeled after the porches of yesteryear, often wrapping around the side of a home.

*The multiple-family dwellings are often "brownstones." While brownstone used to refer to a type of stone used in construction, today it more often refers to a row of terrace homes, sometimes called rowhouses, clad in brick.

*Small parks, sometimes called Pocket Parks, are tucked throughout the TND, inviting children and their parents to gather and socialize.

A village square gets prominent attention in a TND. In addition, live/work buildings are developed on the main street. This means that a retail store provides the owners with living quarters above it, much like early downtowns throughout the country.

Because of the variety of home sizes and styles in a well-planned TND, a young couple could conceivably move into one of the community's smaller homes or a brownstone as newlyweds, then move to a larger home after they have children. Then, when they are empty nesters, they could move back to a smaller home or brownstone, all without ever leaving their neighborhood and their friends.

That feeling of yesteryear usually stops at the front door of the homes, though. Each home's design meets the modern needs of today's society. Exterior construction feature include brick and lap siding, along with full basements. In addition, the homes include energy efficient furnaces and air conditioners.